| MANILA, Philippines - On the day she was being fitted with a “face cast” by prosthetic makeup expert Paul Jones on the set of Yam Laranas’ “The Echo” in Toronto, Iza Calzado was grinning from ear to ear. “He asked why I was always smiling,” recalls Calzado, now back in Manila. “I told him it was because I couldn’t believe I was in Canada, shooting a Hollywood movie.” To think, she plays an abused wife in the US remake of “Sigaw.” “I was bugbog [battered], emotionally and physically throughout the month-long shoot.” That was why she had made “cheerfulness” her goal (and coping mechanism): “I simply enjoyed myself.” Kiddie crush But who wouldn’t have a blast, having US hunk Jesse Bradford as co-star? “He was my crush when he was a kid in ‘King of the Hill.’ But I didn’t want to look star-struck, so I played it cool.” Although she had stopped herself from asking for an autograph, she cinched a snapshot with Bradford. “He took our photo [with his free arm]. He said he was good in taking pictures that way.” Bradford is a total pro, she recounts. “One time, the stand-in could’ve covered for him, but still he turned up and did the scene with me. I love the feeling when the actor is in the same place, emotionally, with me. I wish we had more scenes together.” Calzado also has fond memories of screen husband Kevin Durand, Russell Crowe’s current co-star in the hit Western “3:10 to Yuma.” “He’s a very intelligent actor. He asked questions and would discuss scenes with me,” Calzado relates. She says that she also hit it off with co-star Amelia Warner of “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising” fame. “She said she had watched ‘Sigaw’ and that she liked it. ” On the set, they gabbed about Philippine beaches, but the “funny thing was, in our scene together, we didn’t get to talk much.” Just as amiable was Carlos Leon (yup, dad of Madonna’s firstborn Lourdes), who was her “lunch buddy” on her first few days in Canada. “When he first saw me, he thought I was also Latino. He encouraged me to try out for Hispanic roles.” They ended up chatting about everything—from fruits (watermelon, grapes) to pet causes. “He commended me after learning that I host a public service show (“At Your Service Star Power” on QTV).” In sum, she tags her Toronto trip, “liberating and fulfilling.” Liberating, she explains, because she experienced “the freedom of walking in the streets in relative anonymity … and fulfilling because it was a dream come true.” Back in Manila, she is packing her bags once again, to shoot Adolf Alix and Dave Hukom’s “Batanes.” She is enthusiastic, to say the least. “I saw the trailer of [Alix’s previous film] ‘Kadin’ and found Batanes inspiring.” New screen guy Cameras start grinding first week of October. Here, she co-stars with Taiwan’s Ken Zhu, star of “Meteor Garden” and formerly of the boy band F4. As in “The Echo,” she did research on her co-star, prior to filming. “I checked out Ken’s website and found out that he does a lot of charity work for children … and that he cooks,” she exclaims. “I love him already!” | 
Iza Calzado is on the cover of Cosmpolitan for May 2008, available at all National Bookstores nationwide!
